Car door



April 13,1926.

E. A. RIVES CAR DOOR Filed April 13 1923 2 Sheets-Shut 2 Patented Apr.-13, 1926. i e

1 UNITED. STATES f, 1,580,217 PAT .lzlajr OFFICE;

EDWIN A. RIVES, or GREENsBoRo, NORTH CAROLINA, AssIeNoR or ONE-FOURTHTo. GEORGE w. NEISTER or cfmaENsBoRo,y NORTH CAROLINA.` 'f

i Application ined Aprn ,13, 1923.] [semi No. 631,829.

To all whom #may concern.'

Be it known that I, EDWIN A. RIvEs,av

" of the usual form `consisting of upright citizen of the UnitedStates', residing at Greensboro, in thecounty ofy Guilford and State ofNorth Carolina,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in CarDoors, of which the following is a specification.' I

This invention relates to car kdoors andV has for its object theprovision of novel, simple and inexpensive means for moving a freightcardoor from open to closed posi-V tion or vice versa, whichiwilloperate'easily and without requiring excessive yexertion.

Another object of the .invention is to provide a struc-y upon the partof the workmen.

ture in which the door will be .effectually prevented from' swinginglaterally relative to the car, and another object of the invention is toprovide means whereby the door may be secured in either the closed orthe open position. Other incidental objects of the invention will appearin the course of the following description.-

The invention is illustrated panying drawings, in which ff VFigure 1 isa side elevation of a portion of a car having my. improved door mountedthereon and shown inthe closed position; v

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the door in the open position; I Fig. 3isa transverse section On'the line 3 3 of Fig.1; A L "f Fig. 4 is anenlarged detail section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1, and

in the laccom- Fig. 5 is a side elevation showing ya slight;y

modification. f

In the drawings, the reference numeral 1 .indicates a portion of a carhaving a door opening 2' in its side, the said opening being formed inthe` usual or any preferred manner. :Upon the doorjambs 3 at the upperends thereof, I secure brackets 4' in which are secured rigidly the endsof a track rod 5' which is preferably circular in cross section, asshown most clearly in Fig.y 4. Tovthe lower bar 6 of the car frame, Isecure-A a guard rail 7 which is disposed in spaced relation to the'saidframe bar 6 and may be constructed at its ends with inclinedv de-lpossible.

Y preferred number and constitute supports 'i forv the'door, indicatedat 11. The door is l 1 planksor'boards secured to braces 12 in.

order lto attain the proper strength and rigidity, and upon the` outerside of the door at the upper end thereof I secure brackets 18 which areolIset at their upper ends, asy

shown at 14, whereby they may clear .the l track bar 5, as shown clearlyin Fig. 4.-. 1 Be-v tween the upper extremities kof the said; 1

brackets and the upper end of thedoor, Ir

for easy movement, aswill be readily understood. It will be seen at oncethat the dee scribed arrangement provides vrotatablefor rolling supportsfor the door at both itsl and the sidek of thecar, as shown clearly inFig. 3, so that'the door cannot swing outwardly` laterally from the car.I thus remove the cause of frequent accidents which tear the doorfromvthe car, andI also pre vent the door being priedoutwardly at-itslower end without breaking the seal. The latter practice is frequentwith thieves ormischievously inclined persons and has enabledtrespassersto extract freight Vfrom'a car without breaking the seal sothat the, loss was not discovered until, in many instances,yapprehension ofthe thieves was iml of .the1sa1ne, I pivotally secure'the/upper. end of anoperating lever 19 which is mounted to swing in apla-ne parallelfwith the plane of the door, as will be readily under-Vstood upon reference'to the drawings.` Thisv lever is' long enough toVextend toa lpoint belowV the guard rail-7 and is constructed betweenits ends with"alongitudinalslot 2() in which is engaged a stud or pinv21 car-zy ried `by a bracket 22 secured upon the door,

Upon the lintel 1.8, at the center as shown. The lowerefree end. of thelever f is provided with an opening23 therethrough kwhich may aline withthe opening 9 through either extension 8 of the guardrail, and receive asealing device 24 whereby the door may be locked lin its closedposition.l "When the door is open, any convenient pin or tool may beinserted through thealined openings 23 and 9 and thereby preventpremature closing of the door. The lever is also equipped adjacent itslower end with an eye or ring 25 in which is engaged oi' to which isattached one end of a chain 26, and upon the side of the car beyond theends of the guard rail, I secure similar rings or eyes 27. The chain isequipped at its free end with a hook 28 adapted to engage in a link ofthe chain or in the eye or ring 25, as the case may be. 1When the leveris swung to the limit of its movementin either direction, the chain ispassed through the adjacent eye 27 and double upon itself so that thehook 28 may be engaged in a link of the chain or 1n the eye 25, and aseal, indicated at 29 in Fig. 5, may be secured to and through the linksof the chain so that opening of the door cannot be effected withoutbreaking the seal and, therefore, rendering detection certain.

In operating my improved door, it is necessary only to swing the leverabout its pivot in the proper direction in order to move the door' fromopen to closed position or from closed to open position. The pin andslot connection between the lever and the door will transmit themovement of the lever to the door so that the door will be slid in arectilinear path from one end of the guard rail 7 and the track rail 5to the opposite ends thereof and binding between the door and the levercannot occur. l/Vhen the door has been shifted, the lever may be securedagainst return movement in the manner described. It is to be notged thatthe construction employed by me not only prevents the door being priedlateral-.ly from the car but is of such construction that, if the carshould sag from the effects of the weather upon the wood employ-ed inthe car, the door may still move easily inasmuch as the track rail 5 issecured only at its ends and, therefore, offersv no obstruction to themovement of the door but is so mounted that, if the door frame shouldsag, the track rail or bar and the supports for the lower end of thedooi' will partake of the sagging movement so that the relativepositions of the parts will remain constant.

The extensions 8, in some instances, may be found somewhat objectionableinasmuch as they locate the locking points of the operating lever belowthe bottom of the door opening and if the car should be stopped close toa 4loading platform, it might prove inconvenient for the attendants toreach the seals in order to open the car. j I, therefore,

provide the modified or alternative construction shown in Fig. 5 inwhich the guard rail BO is constructed without the extensions so thatits lower edge throughout its extent is substantially flush with the carfloor, and openings 3l for the reception of locking pins or seals areprovided in the ends of the guard rail proper instead of in dependingextensions therefrom as in the previously described arrangement.Otherwise the form shown in Fig. 5 is identical in all respects with theconstruction first described and lillustrated in Figs. l to l.

It will be readily noted that my improved car door mounting andoperating mechamsm is exceedingly simple and may be readily applied toany car now in existence as well as to cars which may be hereafterbuilt. The device will operate always very easily so that the brakemanor other employee charged with the duty of opening or closing the cardoor may perform his duty without being subjected to physical strain orbeing obliged to put forth any unusual exertion. j

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is: n

In a structure of the character described, a car having a door Aopening'in one, wall thereof, a door slidably mounted for movementlongitudinally of the car wall into and out of a closed position, aguide strip extending longitudinally of the car wall across and beyondthe lower end of said door opening and overlapping the lower end portionof said door, openings being provided in the end portions of said guidestrip, an operating lever for said door pivoted at its upper end to thecar wail above the door opening and having its lower free end extendingin overlapping relation to said guide strip and provided with an openingadapted to register with the openings in th-e ends of said guide stripand receive a fastener, said lever having connection with the doorwhereby slidingmovement may be imparted to the door when the lever ismoved, an eye carried by the free end portion of said lever, eyescarried by the car wall in spaced relation to the ends of said guidestrip, and a chain carried by the eye of said lever andadapted to bepassed through an eye of the car wall and having means at its free endfor engagement j with the eye of the lever to securethedoor in anadjusted position.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature.

EDWIN A. RIVES. [Ls]

